Products, vehicles and other types of physical items may be uniquely identified by radio frequency identification (RFID) techniques. A particular item, or collection of items, is identified by means of a RFID tag having a unique identifier. One example of a RFID tag is a transponder that includes an integrated circuit containing a power source and radio frequency circuitry to transmit a radio frequency signal having a unique identifier associated with the tag. A RFID reader device, which generally has an antenna and a transceiver, detects and processes the radio frequency signal produced by a RFID tag when the RFID tag is within the range of the RFID reader device. The unique identifier of the RFID tag may be transmitted from the RFID reader device to a computer for use by an application program.